


Six-Armed Embrace

by MuffetSquared



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Gender-neutral Reader, POV Second Person, Post-Pacifist Route, Romance, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffetSquared/pseuds/MuffetSquared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The coffee shop across from your office building was the only thing that kept you going, but, as Murphy's Law would dictate, it closed down. You almost lost your job, due to an extreme lack of determination. However, everything turned around when a certain Monster set up shop...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Resurgence

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve noticed that, although she gets quite a bit of attention in NSFW art, Muffet rarely shows up in fan-fiction, aside from offhand references to her, and the occasional bondage NSFW. Seeing as she is my favorite character, I figured that I should give her her moment in the spotlight as something other than a sex object. This is not going to have any explicit content. It might get risqué at times, but there will never be outright sex. At least, not on this work. If I want to write that, it'll be a separate project.
> 
> This was heavily inspired by Bookmarks by Koalolive, and will follow a similar pacing structure. Go check that out, if you haven't already.

You moved to this city a couple years ago. You weren’t nearly wealthy enough to get a house, but you are fairly satisfied with your fifth story apartment. The windows in the living room give you a near flawless view of the world outside your flat, as you were lucky enough to be able to get one at the very edge of the residential area. You could see the main parts of the city from one window, and the suburbs from the other. With little effort, you could gaze on the nature at the edge of town. When you were bored, you often found yourself gazing out of the window, aimlessly staring at everything you could see, even if nothing changed.

 

You come home from work one day, dead tired, questioning your decision to get an office job. The only thing that had kept you going in the past was Gerald’s, a small coffee shop across from your office building. Every lunch break, you’d go down there to buy a hot chocolate and a pastry of some sort. Every lunch break until it closed, anyway. Now you went to work tired, and came home even more so. Today was one of those days. You just plopped down on your couch and stared out of the window again.

 

It gave you the perfect view of the commotion on Mt. Ebott.

 

It was like nothing you’d ever seen before. A rainbow-patterned fireball shot out of the side of the mountain, sending chunks of rock flying off the side of the mountain. Anytime the hollow from the explosion caved in, a renewed colourful blast shot it back out of the hole until the mountain seemed to give up on closing, accepting its new entrance begrudgingly. 

 

You want to go flying out of your apartment complex and barrel down to the mountain to see what happened, but you know that everyone else would have had the same idea, and you were never really good with crowds. You decided to wait it out, watching to see what happens from the comfort of your own home.

 

The wait was longer than you were hoping, but not as long as you were expecting. A couple hours later, a bunch of blotches of colour started to march out of the mountain, of various sizes and shapes. It takes you a while to figure out what these people were, but when it hit you, it hit like a train:

 

_“Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth; HUMANS and MONSTERS.”_


	2. Integration

The return of Monsters to modern human society was a complicated ordeal, to say the least. Just as racism ran rampant among humans of different descents, so too did an entirely different species. In some places of the world, Monsters were accepted with open arms, cultures intermingling without so much as a single hiccup. In other places, Monsters were shunned from society, refused homes and jobs, and sometimes forced to leave countries entirely.

 

Fortunately, your town of residence was a place where the former description applied more often than not. There were those that resented the Monster’s presence in their city, but they were few and far between, as luck would have it. Monsters were able to open their own businesses, get jobs, and even extend the residential district to house themselves.

 

Your workplace, on the other hand, was not one of those that accepted them. Your boss, Leroy, crotchety old man that he was, refused to accept the change, turning down job applications from Monsters. Even as your co-workers started to leave for other jobs, not wanting to associate with such a racist man, he still refused to hire anyone to replace them. If you were able to get a job anywhere else, you would have left too, but you were not so fortunate.  
  
That said, your job _did_ improve due to the Monster’s return. The building that Gerald’s coffee shop was in got bought out by a Monster and repurposed into a bakery. Figuring it might sell some sort of morning pick-me-up, you stopped in one day before going to work to pick up your beverage of choice, and your eyes widened as soon as you took the first sip of the piping hot drink. Your vision went black and the world was silenced, leaving all of your senses off so you could focus on the taste of the smooth drink. A symphony of flavours spiraled through your mouth and down your throat, and before you knew it, your drink was gone, your perception of the world returning to normal.  
  
You had to meet the one responsible for this liquid heaven, and thank them in person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we're about to get into it! I apologize for the short chapters, but this is my first major writing project. I'm sure I'll get into the groove of this eventually. Thanks for bearing with me!


	3. Unpunctual

 You sit at your table, contemplating the best way to get the barista’s attention. You don’t want to interrupt their work, (although the place didn’t seem to be too busy at the moment,) but you couldn’t just stay silent, either. _There must be some way to do this without being rude_ , you muse to yourself.

    No sooner did you finish the thought than your contemplation was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. “Are you done with your drink?” She said the phrase with the practiced mechanical tone of someone who’s said the same thing a thousand times. With your menial shifts on the customer service line, you knew the tone all too well.  
  
    “Oh, uh...yeah. Thank you.”  
  
    As your gaze drifted up to see who snapped you out of your reverie, it dawned on you why the café had the title of “Spider Bake Sale.” A girl with a grey-ish purple skin tone stood before you, her fanged smile evidently forced, likely the product of one too many caustic customers. You couldn’t tell for sure, however, as five eyes express emotion differently than the standard two you dealt with on a regular basis. The red and beige uniform she wore had four more sleeves than the rest of them, to contain the extra arms she possessed. One hand was outstretched to take your empty mug from you. You realize that you’ve been observing her for much longer than socially appropriate, and snap your eyes down to your mug, which you then hand to her.  
  
     _I guess this is the chance I needed._  
  
    “Could you tell the person who made this that it was amazing?”  
  
    One of her hands, unoccupied by a mug or plate, covered her mouth as she giggled a little to herself. “I believe you just did!” When her hand dropped back to her side, your gaze drifted up, revealing a much more genuine, happy smile. “Thank you very much for the compliment!”

    “Really? That was you? Why are yo-”  
  
    You interrupt yourself, hoping you don’t look as stupid as you feel. You just spaced out in a coffee shop with a silly grin on your face, ogled the server and then nearly insulted her. You hope you could use the excuse that it’s 7:30 in the morning. Wait 7:30?! You’re going to be late! You’re already on the bottom of your boss’s “Good Employee List,” (A list that even the plants in the lobby rank higher on than you do,) and you cannot afford to lose your job. You fiddled with your wallet, trying to undo the clasp to get the money out, but it was a futile effort. You slam the wallet on the table and run out the door, and yell that you’ll come back to pick it up later. The spider lady, obviously stunned, twitched for a second before putting the customer service veil back on and pocketing your wallet.  
  
    “I’ll hold onto it for you!”  
  
    10 minutes later, as you sit down at your cubicle, it finally dawned on you how stupid of you that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, the spider finally makes her appearance!


	4. Introductions

As you closed down your work computer and pack up what little things you had, you let out a sigh of relief. Leroy would just not let up on you. He assigned you to tasks he knows you hate, just to spite you for being late to work again. Any time you messed up, he threw ad-hominem insults at you with all the eloquence of a child who’d just learned what swearing was.  
  
You panicked for a second, looking for your wallet, before you remembered exactly where you left it. It’d be best to pick that up before the café closes, so you slung the handbag over your shoulder and slipped into the elevator, pressing the ground floor button and slumping against the wall.  
  
The elevator dinged, and as checked out as you were, you almost didn’t get off of the elevator. You trudge out of the lobby and across the street, making your way over to the Spider Bake Sale.  
  
And you rolled your eyes, as you saw the darkened building. The classic, box-standard “Sorry, we’re CLOSED” sign hung from the door, almost taunting you. In what you knew would be a futile effort, you knock on the door, not sure why you were expecting an answer.  
  
As you turned away to walk home, a bell rang out from behind you, and a familiar voice called out to you. You whipped around to see the spider lady from this morning, holding the door out for you.  
  
“I’m guessing you’re here for your wallet. Please come in, and I’ll get it for you.”  
  
Against your better judgement, you comply, stepping into the confines of the closing café. The windows were big enough that she wouldn’t try anything stupid, anyway.  
  
“Sit down wherever you like, I’ll go get your wallet.”  
  
You sit down at a booth and wait patiently as your host walked up a previously unseen set of stairs. With the place completely empty, you were finally able to completely take in the atmosphere. The colour scheme of the interior matches the colours on the uniforms: beige and some eye-pleasing hue of dark red. The wood finish on the floor was astoundingly shiny, reflecting your gaze back at you like a mirror. Your reverie was interrupted when a pair of shoes stepped on the reflection of your face. Your wallet landed in your lap a second later.  
  
“There you go, dearie~”

 

You pocketed your wallet and stood up, thanking her for returning your belongings. However, she called out your name as soon as you were about to grab the door handle.  
  
“What’s the rush?  Why not stay a while? It’s dreadfully cold outside. Let me get you a drink.”  
  
You stopped; Not to accept her invitation, but to ask her a question in return.  
  
“How do you know my name?”  
  
“I saw it on your I.D. when I pulled the payment out.”  
  
Guess that’s an acceptable answer. You don’t have anything better to do, so you sit back down at the booth, not bothering to question what could possibly go wrong. She disappeared behind the counter, and emerged a few minutes later with two drinks; She sat down on the other side of the booth and slipped one of them to you, which you quickly recognized as the same as your drink from this morning. You took a sip, the fresh beverage continuing its predecessor’s habit of taking over every one of your senses. The two of you quietly sipped your drinks for a while, until you decided to break the silence by asking her name.  
  
“I was wondering when you’d ask. My name is Muffet. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”  
  
She extended a hand to shake yours, and you quickly obliged, extending the hand not currently occupied by a mug. You were staring down at the drink, trying to think of another thing to say, when Muffet spoke up, relieving you of that problem.  
  
“Why were you in such a hurry this morning? You would have to be pretty desperate to give someone you don’t know your wallet.”  
  
“I was...going to be late, and I can’t afford to get fired.”  
  
You purposefully neglected to tell her the true reason for your panic: your boss. He’d been harping on you for months now, more often than not for stupid reasons. Anger for jamming a printer is one thing; dropping his pencil is another. You quickly change the subject before you have to explain further. Leroy had some way of knowing when someone talked about him.  
  
“If you’re the cook, then why were you waiting tables?”  
  
“Why, I can handle every position here!” Her resulting giggling quickly gave way to a sulky frown. “In truth, I don’t have many employees. I’m having to bus tables and make the food. I’m just lucky I have such a good janitor.”  
  
Your eyes drifted to the floors once again, admiring the reflective surfaces that would inevitably just be walked all over again.  
  
“I never see him sleep. He’s always cleaning something.”

In unison, the two of you take a sip of your beverages, and Muffet’s smile returned once more.  
  
“But enough complaining. You’re the first person to tell me my food was good since I got to the...” Her sentence was interrupted by a yawn. “...the surface.” Muffet yawned again. “I hate to cut this short, but I really do have to get in bed. It’s getting late.”  
  
You pull out your wallet to hand her the price, but she pushes your hand back.  
  
“Don’t worry about paying me for it, dearie~ I’m off hours.”  
  
How nice! At her request, you stood up, walking to the door, when you heard her call your name out.  
  
“Thank you for the company! I hope to see you again soon!”  
  
You turned and waved goodbye, and set off to your apartment. As you watched the sun set from your wall-covering window, you thought about your meeting with the spider woman, idly toying with your wallet.  
  
You were so absorbed in your thoughts, you failed to notice that she’d preemptively charged you for the second drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed how short my previous chapters were, so I wrote a longer one for you. I hope it was worth the wait!


	5. Application

Not even the sun had woken up at the time you did. You had set your clock an hour early so you would have time to stop by the Spider Bake Sale without being late to work again, under threat of getting fired. Leroy almost never made good on his threats, but you figured it would be better to be safe than sorry.  
  
After completing your morning routine, sans breakfast, you set out for the walk to work in the chilled autumn air. The cold didn’t really bother you too much, for the most part, so you had only put on a long-sleeve shirt. That said, it was colder this morning than you had anticipated, so you found yourself shivering, your gloveless hands tucked into your pockets, thoughts occupied by the simple, warm pleasures in life; A beloved pet curled up in your lap...a warm drink...someone to cuddle up to next to a fireplace...  
  
These thoughts seemed to be working; you were feeling perceptibly warmer already. It took you a second to realize that it wasn’t your mind warming you up, but a thick jacket suddenly draped around your shoulders. You looked to your left, expecting to see the motherly goat Monster that settled in around town; She always seemed to be there when someone needed her. Instead, your eyes met nobody in particular. You kept walking, not having any idea what to do about the phantom jacket. 

“hey, can i at least get a thank you for that?”

You whipped your head around, trying to locate the source of the voice, and coming face to chest-plate with a tall someone. You looked up to identify the person as a skeleton Monster, his smile broad and friendly.  
  
“GREETINGS, HUMAN!”  
  
And his voice loud and proud. And decidedly _not_ the voice you were looking for.  
  
“WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME? I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO TEAR YOUR EYES OFF OF THE DASHING GOOD LOOKS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR YOU TO WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING!”  
  
You didn’t have the time to take his advice when you tripped and fell with all the grace of a piece of wood, face-planting into the asphalt. You sat up and looked behind you to see what tripped you, and your gaze was met by a smiling skeleton, offering one hand to help you up, the other occupied with shooing away a small, white dog.  
  
“c’mon, kid. get up. you’re blocking traffic.”  
  
You reach out to grab the shorter skeleton’s hand, when a loud, wet fart noise echoed through the area, startling you into flopping back onto the ground.  
  
“SANS! NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO JAPE THE HUMAN! THEY ARE CLEARLY INJURED!” 

The smaller one, who must be Sans, shrugged, revealing a pink, air-filled sack in his hand.  
  
“sorry bro, i thought it’d be funny. it was funny, right?”  
  
You looked at Sans, his grin expectant, and you couldn’t help but chuckle.  
  
“Yeah, it was pretty good.”  
  
“see bro? they’re smiling. i made them smile.”  
  
The taller skeleton stood there, seemingly stunned, before he shook it off and extended his hand to you.  
  
“HUMAN, PLEASE STAND UP! I ASSURE YOU THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO NOT HAVE ANY SORT OF WHOOPIE CUSHION IN MY HAND!”

“c’mon, bro, i was just trying to, you know...”  
  
“SANS, DON’T DO IT!”  
  
“ _cushion_ the blow.”  
  
You groaned and extended your own hand, standing up with help from “The Great Papyrus.”  
  
“can i get that ‘thank you’ now?”

You realized you still hadn’t thanked Sans for helping you up, so you did so, giving the two skeletons your name, and Papyrus repeated it multiple times, loudly.  
  
“THAT’S A VERY NICE NAME, HUMAN! ALMOST AS NICE AS ‘THE GREAT PAPYRUS!’”  
  
On anyone else, that attitude would have made you hate them, but there’s just something about Papyrus that makes it lovable.  
  
“where you headed, kid?”  
  
“The Spider Bake Sale.”  
  
“oh, that old place? we were going there too. come with us, kid, i know a shortcut.”  
  
“YES! MY BROTHER’S SHORTCUTS ARE THE FASTEST SHORTCUTS! YOU’LL BE THERE IN A HOT MINUTE!”  
  
“take my hand, kid.”  
  
Against any sort of normal person’s judgement, you grab his hand, another desperate little _poot_ emanated from the deflated whoopie cushion. He pulled you into a side alley, in the decidedly _opposite_ direction of the café, with Papyrus following behind. He grabbed Sans’s other hand, his comically large hands overpowering Sans’s own tiny ones.  
  
The next time you blinked, you were standing directly in front of the café somehow. You shook your head to clear the dizziness, and before you could turn to thank Sans, you see Muffet through the double glass doors, along with what appears to be an adorable walking bucket. She unlocked the doors for the business day and called your name, ushering you inside to take a seat at a booth.  
  
“It’s nice to see you again! Who might your friends be?”  
  
“i’m sans. sans the skeleton. and this is-”  
  
His brother interrupted him, quite loudly, startling the bucket in the corner, causing it to spill water everywhere.  
  
“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I ASSUME YOU ARE THE HEAD OF THIS FINE ESTABLISHMENT!”  
  
“Indeed I am. It’s nice to meet you, Papyrus. You too, Sans. May I take your orders?”  
  
The three of you order, and chat for a while about the differences between the Underground and the Surface, until Muffet returned and sat down across from you, carrying a food item in each hand and distributing them to you and your new skeletal companions.  
  
“So, what brings you here so early? I don’t receive many customers immediately upon opening. My janitor didn’t even get a chance to finish cleaning. Woshua! Come here and say hello to our guests!”  
  
The little bucket walked over, scrubbing the floors meticulously on the way there.  
  
“Hi...I’m Woshua.”  
  
You introduce yourself to him and hold out a hand to shake, which he rubs down before extending one of his feet to shake your hand. The contact was minimal and short, before he scurried off to the corner he was in, continuing to clean it.

“Anyways, why are you here this early?”  
  
“i’m here because my bro wanted to come here. he wants to ask you somethin’, you see.”

“THAT IS CORRECT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME TO OBTAIN A JOB!”  
  
Muffet was stunned by his straightforwardness.  
  
“I..uh...I suppose I could use someone to bus tables.”  
  
“OH, NO NO NO! I AM A WORLD RENOWNED CHEF! PRIME GOURMET! PERFECT SPAGHETTORE! THAT’S PAPYRUS!”  
  
“Spaghettore?”  
  
“my bro makes some great spaghetti. it tastes like nothing else.”

“SANS SPEAKS THE TRUTH!”  
  
“Listen, Papyrus. I can’t hire anyone to cook any more food at the moment, the kitchen is crowded. If you need a job, the only positions I can give you are cashier and busboy...”  
  
You looked over to Sans, who was visibly seething at Muffet’s rejection, right eye unlit and left eye burning blue. Although his brother seemed oblivious, Muffet noticed this too, as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek from the intimidation tactic.  
  
“But, if you work hard at one of those two positions, I’m...I’m sure I could promote you at some point! Is that okay?”  
  
The question was more directed towards Sans than Papyrus, but, if he realized it, he didn’t show it, as he stood up and struck a pose like some comic book hero.  
  
“THAT WORKS FOR ME! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE BEST BUSBOY YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE! AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO PROMOTE ME TO HEAD CHEF! IT’S PERFECT!”  
  
Papyrus’s fantasy was interrupted by the bell hanging over the door ringing, signifying that a human couple had entered the café.  
  
“Well, Papyrus, I can’t give you the job right away. Please understand, business protocols and such. There are forms you have to fill out. I’ll get them to you soon, but right now, I have to deal with these customers. As for _you_ ,” Muffet said, cocking her head to the side and jabbing you in the ribs with a finger. “Don’t you have somewhere you have to be? Wouldn’t want a repeat of yesterday, right?”  
  
You quickly nodded and pulled out your wallet, paying for your beverage and taking it out the door with you. On the way out, you overheard a snippet of Muffet’s voice.  
  
“No, we don’t keep tabs here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Here's an extra long chapter for you!


	6. Acceptance

The elevator opened its doors to the sixth floor of the building, revealing the box-ridden space you called your workplace. You stepped into your cubicle and sat down to start work, taking another sip of the drink Muffet made for you.  
  
“NO DRINKS IN MY BUILDING!”  
  
You nearly jumped out of your skin, spilling most of the remaining drink all over yourself. You swiveled your chair around to see your boss, Leroy, standing there, leaning on the wall of your cubicle and making it creak. His once white office shirt had since been stained with various foods, giving him the look of a walking dumpster, with the intelligence and attitude to match.  
  
“And that’s why! You’re going to spill that everywhere! WE HAVE TO LOOK PROFESSIONAL!”  
  
Yes, of course. Because he exuded an air of professionalism.  
  
“With all due respect, sir, I wouldn’t have spilled it if you hadn’t startled me.”  
  
“EXCUSES, EXCUSES! YOU ALWAYS BLAME IT ON ME!”  
  
_Because you’re always the problem._  “I’m sorry, sir. Did you have anything else to say?”  
  
“Of course I do, moron! Why else would I be in your office!?”  
  
“I’m sorry, sir, stupid question. What do you need?”  
  
‘I’m sorry, sir‘ had become your mantra; it was the only way to get through Leroy’s rants.  
  
“I need you to do something for me. You’re all I have left now. That other moron quit last night!”  
  
_I wonder why._  “What do you need me to do, sir?”  
  
“I need more employees! And you’re going to get them for me.”  
  
“How would you like me to do that, sir?”  
  
“I don’t know! I’d ask you to invite your  _friends_ , if you had any! So just put up a flier or something! Classified ads, I don’t CARE! Just GET IT DONE!”  
  
Leroy stormed out of the room, the wall snapping back into place now that his weight wasn’t pressed against it. You flung an unsightly gesture his way as you opened the drawer below your monitor, sticking a finger into it and pulling, as the handle had long since fallen off. You reached in to grab old photograph of you and your late grandfather. He was a brilliant man, and always had the perfect advice to give you. Just looking at that photo made you feel better whenever your boss went on one of his tangents. You sighed and tucked it back in the drawer, opening an art program to design the fliers. This was going to be a long day...  
  


 

You were lucky enough to get off early, as you had finished the fliers to your boss’s satisfaction, after approximately 35 rearrangements. Having nothing better to do, you stepped into the spider bake-sale, and witness 3 tables pushed together, a huge crowd of people talking to each other. Interspersed between the faces you didn’t recognize, there were your new skeleton friends, Sans and Papyrus, as well as a short human you immediately identified as Frisk, the savior of the Underground. Muffet was serving them food and drinks and chatting with them as she passed by.  
  
“Hey, Papyrus. Can I join you?”  
  
“OH, HELLO, HUMAN! I WAS JUST TELLING MY FRIENDS ABOUT YOU! EVERYONE, THIS IS THE HUMAN I MET THIS MORNING! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES! DON’T BE SHY!”

The first to speak up was a blue fish woman, Her hair tied in a ponytail.

“Sup! I’m Undyne, and this is my girlfriend, Alphys!”

The little yellow lizard girl held up a hand and gave you a little finger-wave, blushing profusely.  
  
“H-hi...”

“Now, now! There is no need to be shy, Alphys. If Papyrus trusts them, we can trust them. I am Toriel. It is a pleasure to meet you.”  
  
The motherly goat monster held her hand out for you to shake, and you realized that she was the one that everyone had been talking about. You extend your own hand, startled at how firm her grip was for such a gentle old lady. The little human waved, bouncing up and down in their seat.  
  
“And this little one is Frisk, but I think you might already know that. They have become rather famous.”  
  
Frisk smiled wider than it looked like their little face could possibly handle, prompting a little hair ruffle from Toriel. You were jerked out of your cuteness induced reverie by Muffet's voice calling your name.  
  
"I assume you're going to have your usual choice?"  
  
You turned and nodded. As she walked away, your stomach rumbled and you called her back over and asked her for some sort of lunch.  
  
"Of course, dearie. What would you like?"  
  
You looked down at the lack of a menu, and just shrug.  
  
"Surprise me."  
  
"Of course. I'll make you something special."  
  
Muffet walked away, one hand waving over her shoulder at the group, but, as narcissistic of a thought as it was, you couldn't help but feel it was more targeted at you.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever left a completed chapter to sit for a week, thinking you'd submitted it? I have. Sorry about the wait time.


	7. Wreckage

The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye; people came and went from the Spider Bake Sale, but you hardly noticed, so caught up in the conversation as you were. The topics had become a blur: Frisk’s journey through the underground, the history of Monsters, some insight into each of the people at the table...  
  
However, the shop was about to close down. Everyone except for the little group you were in had left.  
  
“bro, shouldn’t you tell them what you called them here for in the first place?”  
  
“AH! YES, I SUPPOSE THAT WOULD BE SMART!”  
  
For the first time in a while, the shy scientist spoke up.  
  
“Wh-what did you call us here for?”  
  
“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE GOTTEN A JOB AT THIS FINE DINER!”  
  
Everyone lit up at the news. Frisk bounced in their seat, Toriel clapped and smiled warmly, and Alphys shrank back a little at the sudden influx of noise. It was Undyne, however, that had the most animated reaction. She stood up fast, sending her chair skidding backwards, and then materialized a spear and pole-vaulted over the table to land next to Papyrus, clapping him on the back.  
  
“Great job, Papyrus! I knew you’d pull it off!”  
  
The cheering subsided as Muffet cleared her throat from behind the counter.  
  
“Yes, that’s all well and good, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t damage my diner. I nearly ran out of money making this place look as good as I could.”  
  
With her words, she gestured to the place Undyne was a few seconds ago, where there was now a large divot from the impact, and then at what was once a chair. Undyne laughed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.  
  
“Ah...I’ll take that home and fix it, it’ll be done in no time!”  
  
“Do what you like with that, but until then, I’ll need you to pay for the damage you’ve caused.”  
  
Undyne rolled her eye and reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out some money and dropping it into Muffet’s outstretched hand.  
  
“I’ll get that chair back to you better than ever, and then YOU’LL be paying ME!”  
  
Muffet put her hand up to her mouth and laughed quietly.  
  
“I’m sure I will. But in the mean time, I have to close up shop now. Thank you for your patronage!”  
  
There was a collective groan, yourself included, as everyone packed up their things. You were about to be the last one out, when you heard Muffet call your name.  
  
“May I talk to you for a moment?”  
  
You closed the door and stepped back inside.  
  
“What do you want to talk about?”  
  
“Well, I’ll have to close up shop tomorrow, until the damages can be repaired. So I was wondering if you’d be willing to show me around the city? I don’t get out of the bakery much. I live upstairs, you see.”  
  
She motioned to a door that you thought was a closet of some kind. She went and opened it, revealing a spiral staircase, upwards and downwards.  
  
“What’s downstairs?”  
  
“That’s where the staff nest.”  
  
“Nest?”

“What, did you think I was the only spider here?”  
  
You shrugged in response.  
  
“I suppose not.”  
  
“Exactly. Anyways, what do you say? Would you show this little spider around?”  
  
You nodded.  
  
“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow, then!”

You stepped out with a skip in your step, excited at the prospect of being able to be the one on the giving end of a tour. You got to your apartment and picked up your phone, calling Leroy to tell him you’d be taking the day off. After a particularly long lecture, punctuated by occasional “I’m sorry, sir”s, you got the OK to do so. You sat and watched the sun set from your window, idly thinking of what you’d show her, until you drifted off into a sweet slumber...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, the plot is set into motion! There will be plenty of characters showing up next chapter. Perhaps I might take some requests?


	8. Circuit

As always, you woke up sluggishly, slipping out of bed and onto the floor. It wasn’t until you realized what was going to happen today that you got to your feet. You shook yourself awake and got into the shower, washing yourself off; you were going to be doing a lot of physical activity, after all, walking around town with Muffet.

You put on your most comfortable clothes and slipped into your tennis shoes, a sigh of relief coming from your mouth at the fact that you don’t have to wear the shined shoes you always wore to work. You stepped out of the door with a light jacket on, setting out to start the tour.

  You found Muffet standing outside the Spider Bake Sale’s door, smiling and waving at you in full winter gear. _It must be hard to get a six-armed coat,_ you mused to yourself, running up to greet her.

“So glad you showed up! Shall we get going?”You nodded, trying to recall the map you’d laid out for yourself in your head. You got your bearings together, and turned to the right, motioning for her to follow you. You tried to think of some sort of small talk, and failed. Fortunately, Muffet fixed that problem for you.

“Aren’t you cold? You aren’t even wearing a hat! You’ll catch a cold if you aren’t careful.”

You turn to look at her, mildly shocked at the statement.

“It’s not even below freezing, Muffet. What are you talking about?”

She giggled, in what seemed to be her signature state; hand over her mouth and quiet, almost to herself.

“I suppose human biology would differ from ours. Do humans not feel cold?”

“We feel it, we just aren’t as sensitive. Most of us, anyway.”

“I’ve heard Surface spiders don’t like the cold either. Where do they go during winters?”

“I let them into my place to keep warm.”

You purposefully neglected to tell her about what other humans do to them; best not to anger her right now, as she was just now starting to open up to you as more than just a patron.

“Oh, how generous of you! It’s so nice to see a human with such a charitable nature. If only all of them were like you.”

So she knew about that whole thing already. It saved you the trouble of having to explain a mass hatred of her race to her, but did wonders to bring the conversation to a screeching halt. The two of you continued walking along the street, and you stopped occasionally to point out minor things to her on your way to the first major destination. No matter how small of a thing it was, Muffet always seemed interested. A tall building fascinated her just as much as it would fascinate a small child from a farm. In essence, this hypothetical child was in much the same situation she was in; witnessing things she’d heard of, but never seen herself.

If simple architecture was enough to enthrall her, then the first destination you had arrived at would blow her away. You arrived at one of the main tourist-y attractions in the city: An ancient cathedral. After falling apart from misuse, it was restored and converted into a theatre. Old benches were now rows of seats to watch a play or see a band. What had not changed was the majesty of the original building; the stained glass windows cast colourful shadows along the ground, and the old archways forming the ceiling towered overhead, providing visual grandeur and perfect acoustics for a show. There wasn’t anything running at this time of day, so it was free for passers by like yourself to enter and tour at your leisure.

“This is amazing! Did your king live here, perhaps?”

“Oh, no! The Sistine Theatre was never a palace! It was just a church!”

A human man showed up, seemingly out of the woodwork, to explain the entire history of the place. You’d heard it before, but it seemed to enthrall your spider companion, so you continued to feign interest in the speech.

“Now then, would you like a schedule for the shows?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Muffet grabbed one of the programs out of the man’s hand. The two of you thanked him and went to look around, marveling at the architecture of the magnificent building. When you arrived in the backstage area, however, you tripped and fell over something, knocking over a coat rack. You look back, and it was a little white dog that ran in front of your feet.

“Unbelievable. _Unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE!”_

You get to your feet and turn to face the voice, and you locked eyes with a cloth mannequin that was quite literally fuming; smoke was shooting out of it everywhere, making the little person next to it nervous about his ice cap.

“You come into MY backstage, and knock things over everywhere, making a mess? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”

“I-”

“I’ll tell you who you are. You’re an idiot. _An idiot. AN IDIOT!!”_

Each time it repeated itself, it started to shake more and more, body parts coming off of each other and moving around individually.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-”

“ _Sorry?_ You’re SORRY?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH DAMAGE YOU JUST CAUSED!”

The little person working on the wardrobe on the dummy spoke up for the first time.

“Actually, they really didn’t do much.”

“SHUT UP! IT’S MY TURN TO TALK!”

The stand the dummy was standing on was long since knocked over, leaving the s floating around.

“Listen here, bub! You make one more wrong move, and I’M going to be the one that makes you fall down! Do you understand?”

The dress started to tear at the seams as the dummy shook furiously.

“Yes-”

“ _Do you understand?”_

The dress was in shreds.

“I just sai-”

“ _DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”_

The dress was strewn across the room, and the seamstress was on the floor, knocked out by a flying mannequin head.

“I understand!”

“Good. Now get out.”

The flailing had stopped now.

“But we were jus-”

_“Get out.”_

You sigh and turn to leave, facing away from the mad dummy.

 _“GET OUT!”_ You were knocked to the floor by the flailing doll, falling down the stairs and landing on the ground. Muffet ran up to you and helped you to your feet, as did the theatre worker who greeted you on the way in.

“My goodness, are you okay?”

“We really should fire that guy.”

A muffled voice came from the other room.

“You won’t. _You won’t! YOU WON’T!”_

“Why don’t we leave and find the next place?”

You nod at Muffet’s suggestion, picking up your bruised body and walking out the door, Muffet helping you up the entire way. Fortunately, the next place you were going to go wasn’t very far away, and you quickly ended up at the next destination: An art museum. The museum ran a special on Wednesdays, letting anyone in for free, in order to give the homeless people something to do. So, you entered the building, ready to appreciate the works of art stored there, when-

“H-hey, you guys have to pay to get in!”You turn to see some sort of aardvark monster tapping his fingers against themselves, fidgeting nervously.

“Isn’t it free on Wednesdays?”

“Usually, yes, but we’ve r-run into some money troubles recently, so if you could p-pay your entry fee, that’d be appreciated! So sorry, but them’s the rules! Heheh…”

Muffet reached into her coat pockets immediately and pulled out enough money to pay both of your fees, placing it on the table in a disorganized wad. She then ushered you away from the skittish clerk. You hear his voice call out from behind you.

“Excuse me, ma’am! There’s more than you needed to pay to get in...”

“Keep it for yourself then.”

The two of you vanished out of sight, and Muffet turned to you, sighing.

“You’re probably confused about that situation.”

You nodded.

“His name is So Sorry. He designed my advertisements back in the Underground.”

“Then why were you so eager to get away from him?”

“So Sorry’s a bit of a...social pariah. Association with him in public is suicide for any reputation, unfortunately. I do have to keep up my establishment.”

“That’s rough.”

“It is, poor little thing. I wish there were something we could do. Perhaps one of us could visit him privately? But enough of that conversation! Why don’t you show me some of your favorites?”

Muffet probably regretted saying that, as you led her excitedly through the museum like a cat chasing a laser pointer, showing her everything and saying it was one of your favorites. She struggled to keep up at times, but she kept showing interest in what you were saying about each piece. She seemed to have a particular interest in the sculptures. As you explained the significance a particular painting had in human culture, you felt a tug on your pants. You looked down to see Frisk, beaming up at you.

“My child, please do not run off like that! Oh, hello!”

Toriel came out from around the corner, placing a hand instinctively on Frisk’s shoulder.

“Now I see why this little one ran off like that. It is nice to see you again!”

You return the greeting, but the tugging on your pants continued. You look down and see Frisk pointing into the next room.

“I think Frisk wants to show you their painting.”

Frisk nodded excitedly, pulling on your leg to lead you. You looked at Muffet, and she shrugged, and the two of you followed the adorable little child.

“So, Frisk has a painting? I didn’t know they were a good artist.”

“Oh, Frisk did not paint it. It is...well, see for yourself!”

Your gaze followed Toriel’s, and you came to witness a beautiful oil painting titled “Liberation.” The canvas depicted a trek down the path from Mount Ebbot, with a few monsters you recognized, and some you didn’t. You saw Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Sans and Toriel. In addition, Frisk was sitting on the shoulder of someone you hadn’t seen. He looked vaguely like Toriel, but he was clearly male, if his beard was any indication. You asked who it was, expecting Toriel to answer, but instead, Muffet took that job.

“That’s Asgore Dreemurr, King of the Monsters.”

You supposed he did have a regal air about him.

“He had a plan to break the barrier that kept us in the Underground, but Frisk here took care of that, didn’t you?”

Muffet leaned down and ruffled Frisk’s hair affectionately.

“What was his plan?”

Toriel, Frisk and Muffet all cringed in synchronicity.

“What’s the deal with that? What’s wrong?"

Toriel opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it, clearly hesitant to tell you something. After a few more moments of awkward silence, she finally spoke up.

“In order to destroy the barrier, Asgore required seven human souls.”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“To get a human’s soul…”

She stopped, still not wanting to tell you this. An awkward silence filled the space until eventually, Muffet spoke up.

“He would have to kill each human.”

You blinked, stunned, and then laughed slightly.

“Well, he doesn’t need to kill us anymore. Why would it matter to me?”

Toriel’s nervous laughter filled the room.

“Yes, I guess there is not a need to worry. I just did not want to be the one to give the bad news.”

You went back to staring at the painting, contemplating it for a few moments, when a loud, resounding _ding_ came over the speakers, causing you to jump. So Sorry’s voice came over the intercom.

“I-I’m sorry to say this, but we have to close up a little early today. It takes a lot of time to clean an entire museum, haha. So, if you could make your way to the exit, th-that would be very appreciated.”

You couldn’t have been here for _that_ long, could you? You checked the time and saw that it was only 2:30. _Good, that leaves enough time to show her the rest of the stuff._ Frisk stomped their foot on the floor, with barely enough strength to make a sound.

“Now, now, Frisk. Do not be angry. These things happen sometimes.” 

You, Muffet and Toriel chatted for a while on the way out, while Frisk followed behind you silently. As you reached the exit, you give So Sorry a little wave, and the nervous little monster waved back.

“It was nice to see you again, but we have to get going. Frisk has a play date organized, and they need supervision.”

“Nice to see you too, Toriel.”

As the lovable goat monster parted ways, you headed towards the main plaza area, where most of the stuff people use was positioned, as well as a few stores. The two of you passed by buildings without incident, and you explained each one as you passed them; a gym, a hair stylist, a comic book store, an old, closed down Blockbuster, a bookstore and finally, a movie theatre. However, there was a crowd of people, human and monster alike, standing around the entrance and preventing anyone from buying tickets. As the two of you approached, you understood why; standing there was the ever-popular Mettaton, talking about something or other. As you approached, you heard the end of his speech.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll enjoy my latest movie. I will be making my action movie debut, alongside Bruce Willis, in Shrapnel! Be sure to see it in theatres!”

Mettaton pulled a dramatic exit, and then he caught your eye.

“Hello, darling! I haven’t seen you in a while! Where have you been?”

Needless to say, it was a strange occurrence to have a star striding towards you with arms outstretched, ready for a hug. Not sure what else to do, you opened your arms to accept it and Mettaton...walked right past you, to embrace a muscular monster behind you.

“Hey, Metta. I’ve seen you around. How’s it going?”

“It’s going amazing, Aaron!”

You and Muffet went to leave, when you saw the one called Aaron motion for you to stay where you were. You checked the time: 4:30. Staying here would still leave time for the last destination. You looked at Muffet, and she shrugged, sitting down on a railing and waiting for the conversation to finish. 10 minutes of idle chatting between you and Muffet saw to it that it didn’t seem like too much of a wait, and before you knew it, Aaron came over to you, swimming through the air.  
  
“Hey, bro. Sorry about my friend over there. He can be a bit…out of it.”  
  
Aaron winked at you with that last one, really driving home the fact that he was far too close to you.  
  
“I’d point it out to him, but Metta doesn’t like to be corrected. Best to stay on his good side. Gets you a lot of money, bein’ friends with a celeb like him.”

Another wink.  
  
“Bet you feel left out, huh?”  
  
“Actually, w-“  
  
Aaron interrupted Muffet to continue his conversation with you.  
  
“I know it isn’t much, but here, take these.”  
  
Aaron reached into his vest pocket and pulled out two cards of some sort, placing them by your sides.  
  
“Those are gym memberships, to the one over there. If you two want a sweet bod like mine-“  
  
He punctuated the statement by flexing, his biceps bulging out almost comically.  
  
“Then you’d wanna use those often. Although your lady friend here already looks pretty good.”  
  
He winked at Muffet, and she just scoffed and crossed her arms.  
  
“Alright then. Maybe I’ll see you there?”  
  
“Maybe.”  
  
“Alright, see ya.”  
  
With one last wink, Aaron turned around and air-swam away. You sat there in silence for a while, just staring at each other, confused. You pocketed the gym membership and stood up, with Muffet following suit.  
  
“So…where are we going next?”  
  
“I thought I’d show you what human food is like.”  
  
“Okay, lead the way.”

The two of you left the plaza just as the sun was starting to set, and weaved through the main streets. You arrived at the edge of the business area and turned to enter the restaurant. Unfortunately, it was closed.  
  
“Well, that’s unfortunate.”  
  
You nodded, shaking your head.  
  
“There're more restaurants around here; we’ll just have to go a bit out of our way.”  
  
You walk away, angry that your favorite restaurant was closed, but it was hard to be angry in the presence of the cheery spider girl. It was starting to get really late, but you eventually arrived at a 24 hour sandwich shop. Figuring that it would do, you went inside, and surveyed the options. You decided not to try anything new, and just ordered your usual choices, but Muffet went all out with her sandwich, getting every single meat and vegetable she could fit on the bread. You grabbed some sodas for the two of you. You covered the cost to repay her for the museum fee, and the two of you sat down at a booth, across from each other. You waited for her to take the first bite, and watched her face light up in a similar fashion to the first time you had her cooking.  
  
“I’m guessing you like it, right?”  
  
An enthusiastic nod and four thumbs up was the only reply you got from her. The two of you ate the rest of your meal in silence, save for the generic pop music on low volume and the occasional person coming in to order. When the two of you finished your sandwiches, you grabbed your sodas, refilled them and left to make it back to her place. You arrived there, and saw the repairs were finished. Muffet turned to you.  
  
“Thank you for the tour. I truly appreciated it.”  
  
“No problem, Muffet.”  
  
“You know, I still have that theatre’s schedule. Would you like to see a play with me this weekend?”  
  
“I would love that!”  
  
“Is Saturday okay with you?”

“Sounds like a plan to me!”  
  
“It’s a date then! I’ll see you then!”  
  
Muffet leaned in and gave you a peck on the cheek, opening her door and waving goodbye to you.  
  
You hope the cold air was enough to disguise your blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long! I hit a major case of writer's block, then got hit with a school project, and then I...then I just procrastinated, really. Combine that with an extra long chapter, and you have a recipe for delays!
> 
> The Sistine Theatre isn't the Sistine Chapel. It just sounded like something a church-turned-theatre would be called.
> 
> I know people don't particularly like So Sorry. In fact, he's mostly hated overall. But this fic was made to give attention to the characters that most people don't, so I had to include him somewhere. Besides, I feel bad for the poor guy.


	9. Theatre

Thursday and Friday went by in a blur; wake up, get dressed, get a drink, “I’m sorry sir,” get home, sleep, repeat. When Friday finally came to an end, and the sun rose on Saturday, you practically shot out of bed. You got yourself ready in record time and left. It took all of your control not to barrel through these random passersby, but even still, you took quite a brisk pace, stopping only for traffic lights.

Muffet was waiting out front in her full winter gear, holding two drinks. She extended one to you.  
  
“I made your favorite for you. I was in a bit of a rush, I had a feeling you would show up early, so I had to make it faster than usual. I apologize if it isn’t as good as normal.”  
  
You assure her that you’d like it regardless, and proved the statement by taking a sip of the drink, savoring the contrast between the heat of the beverage and the chill of the air. She mimicked your movement and took a sip of hers as well.  
  
“Shall we get going? I heard there’s an opening act. Something about a comedian.”  
  
You take a step towards the Sistine Theatre, Muffet following alongside you.

“I’ve heard good things about shows from the Surface. Although almost anything is an improvement over what we had in the underground.”  
  
“Really? Why’s that?”  
  
“Everything is MTT brand down there. Mettaton ran the cooking shows. Mettaton ran the news. The movies were all Mettaton!”  
  
Muffet went on an MTT-brand rant for a while, and you just sat back and listened, not wanting to interrupt.  
  
“-And even then…oh, it appears we’re here. I apologize for losing my composure there. I just get a little heated on the subject of Mettaton.”  
  
You heard a chuckle from below you, and you looked down to see Sans staring up at you.

“a lot of people get _heated_ about mettaton. in more ways than one.”

He shrugged and winked, prompting a smile from you and a groan from Muffet.  
  
“well, at least one of you likes my jokes. nice to see you again, kid. you too, muffet. how’s the paperwork for my brother comin’ along?”

“It’s going alright. He should be able to start in a week or so.”  
  
“that’s cool. i just wanted to thank you for letting my bro get a job there. it means a lot to him.”

You chimed into the conversation.  
  
“Sans, how did you know she’d be here?”  
  
“oh, it’s nothin’ weird. i just saw her from the other side of the street. or should i say…i _spied her?”_

You started laughing from that one, and Muffet’s groans got more intense.  
  
“c’mon, muffet. lighten up. they’re laughing, so join them, why don’t you?”

Muffet grabbed your hand and started leading you towards the ticket man. You gave him some money, covering Muffet’s ticket as well, and went to take your seats. You never saw Sans move, and yet, he was standing right next to the two of you.  
  
“live a little, muffet. it’s the weekend! let loose, have fun!”  
  
“That’s why we’re here. We’re going to see a play. Now, let’s get seated. I don’t want to miss the opening act.”  
  
“you won’t. you’ve already seen some of it.”

You and Muffet turned slowly, in unison, to face Sans, who was, as usual, smiling, shrugging and winking.  
  
“You’re the opening act, Sans?”  
  
“yep. got myself a gig. first one on the surface, too. anyway, i gotta get on stage. you two should take your seats too. you don’t wanna miss any of my jokes. lemme tell you, they’re very…”  
  
“Sans, please don’t.”  
  
Sans pointed at his upper arm.  
  
_“humerus.”_

Muffet threw up her hands in exasperation and went to take her seat. Sans turned and walked completely out of the building. When the two of you sat down, you saw…Sans, inexplicably on stage. He reached up to grab the mic, and tapped it a couple of times to test the sound.  
  
“everyone ready for this?”

The audience murmured, and Muffet leaned and whispered in your ear.  
  
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for more of his puns.”

You snickered at her minor joke but brought your eyes back to Sans out of courtesy.

  
“alright, guys. you may not know me. but let me introduce myself. i’m sans. sans the skeleton. i’ll be the opening act this morning. i’m not usually up at this time of day. i’m usually up at night. but i guess my sleep schedule is… _evening_ out.”

A unanimous groan came from the audience at the terrible pun.  
  
“hey guys, c’mon. i’m not done yet. in fact, i’ve got a ton more. a _skele-_ ton.”

Muffet joined the crowd in groaning, and continued to do the same for the onslaught of puns that took up most of the next hour, interspersed with the occasional skit. Said bits surprisingly actually got the crowd going, until the momentum died when his puns returned.  
  
“anyway, that ends my bit of the show. i hope you enjoyed, and i hope you enjoy the play. they really worked themselves… _down to the bone_ for it.”  
  
That one actually got the audience booing. Someone even threw a tomato, which Sans grabbed out of the air and took a bit out of.  
  
“thanks for the snack. you’ve been a great crowd.”  
  
Sans stepped down, and the curtains drew, revealing a broken down city scene. The main character came on stage, opening it with a musical number that introduced most of the cast; the kid fresh out of college, the two arguing roommates, the good-hearted Asian stereotype, the dorky comedian (Also played by Sans, funnily enough,) and the landlord of this broken down neighborhood. You found yourself tapping your foot to the rhythm of each song, and saw out of the corner of your eye that Muffet was doing the same. Her signature mouth-covering giggle seemed to have been thrown out of the window; she laughed just like the rest of the audience at the funniest bits of the show.

When the funny parts of the play died down, the female lead sang, “There’s a Fine, Fine Line.” You felt a sudden warmth, and looked to see that Muffet had grabbed your hand and was holding tightly onto it. You turned your hand and grabbed hers as well, paying far more attention to the interpersonal contact than to the play itself. She continued holding your hand for a few moments after the song ended, at which point she regrettably pulled her hand back into her lap. You did the same, slowly, and went back to the show.  
  
After the curtains had closed and the applause died down, Muffet turned to you and said your name.  
  
“I had a good time today. Thank you for treating me. Now, shall we get back?”

You nodded and stood up. As you left the theatre, you grabbed Muffet’s hand again, and held it for the entire journey back to the bakery. Neither of you said anything, just enjoying each other’s company on the way back. You finally let go of her hand when you reached the Spider Bake Sale.  
  
“Thank you again for the lovely time. We should do this again sometime, don’t you agree?”  
  
“I’d love to, Muffet.”  
  
“Great! I’ll see you soon!”  
  
Muffet grabbed you in a hug, and you didn’t hesitate to return the gesture, enjoying the warmth the spider provided. You stayed like that for what seemed like forever, not wanting to be the first one to let go. Eventually she slipped back into her home, and you turned to return to your own home with a skip in your step. When you got home, you sat on your couch and watched the sun set, thinking about the day’s events as always. However, you could barely remember anything of Sans’s comedy routine, or even the play. You could only think of one thing.

The warmth provided by a six-armed embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It isn't until I typed it in a chapter of itself that I realized how silly the title of the fic sounds. So cliché, isn't it?
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, as things finally started to pick up! And if anyone can figure out what play they went to see, I will...do something, I don't know.


	10. Realization

Your outing with Muffet was definitely the highlight of the weekend. Nothing else happened for the rest of the day, or for the entirety of Sunday. As Monday came meandering in like the weird uncle at the family reunion, you grudgingly stepped out of your apartment building and onto the street to get to your job.  
  
You came to the Spider Bake Sale and opened the door, to step inside, and noticed a serious lack of spiders. All that was there was the little bucket Woshua you met last week, scrubbing the seats in one of the booths.  
  
“You know people are just going to sit on those, right?”  
  
Woshua jumped, startled by your presence, sloshing water everywhere. He quickly sponged it up and turned to face you.  
  
“It looks better cleaned though, right?”  
  
You approached and looked at the seat, seeing your reflection staring back at you. You nodded at him. You heard a sniffing noise, and turned to face Woshua.  
  
“You didn’t take a shower this morning, did you?”  
  
You told him that you took one just before going to bed, and his jaw dropped. He grabbed a washcloth and dipped it in his bucket, and hopped up on the table, rearing up on his back legs and rubbing your face with it.  
  
“Do you know how many germs are in beds?! You have to take a shower every morning!”  
  
You would have protested if you could do so without getting a mouthful of soap. Unfortunately, that was not an opportunity, so you just had to stand there and take it. A couple of seconds later, he removed the washcloth, and you looked at him just inches from your face.  
  
“Actually, I think I’m fine here.”  
  
“No! I must clean you!”  
  
You felt shampoo hit your hair and he started to rub it down as well, working it into a good lather. It smelled nice, sure, but you had no idea how you would get it out of your hair. You sighed and closed your eyes, waiting for the impromptu cleaning to end.  
  
“Woshua, what are you doing with them?”  
  
You heard Muffet, somewhat muffled by the soap in your ears, laughing at the spectacle you must be presenting.  
  
“They must be cleaned! They didn’t take a shower this morning!”  
  
“I took one last night.”  
  
You heard her laugh more, and felt the washcloth, mercifully, get lifted from your head.  
  
“Come on, then. You can use my sink to rinse off.”  
  
You felt Muffet’s hands on your shoulders, and some insistent tugging got you walking…somewhere. You still couldn’t see through the soap.  
  
“Alright, we’re at the stairs now. Do you think you can handle this?”  
  
“I don’t know, I’ve never tried to walk up stairs with my eyes closed before.”  
  
You smirked a little at your own snark, and felt one of her hands tighten around your shoulder.  
  
“Well, it’s time to try now.”  
  
Two more hands closed around your waist, and you took a step upwards, feeling your foot connect with the first stair. You continued this process, guided up the spiral staircase by Muffet. Unbeknownst to you, you had reached the top, and as you took another step and your foot connected with nothing, you fell, your face connecting with a lush carpet.  
  
“Oh my god, are you alright?”  
  
You moaned and rolled over, and saw Muffet on her knees, still in her pajamas, watching you with a look of concern. You sat up and looked down at your face-print in the carpet, a perfect outline of your face in soap stuck to her floor.  
  
“Well, I can see now, at least.”  
  
Muffet extended a hand to you, and pulled you up to standing.  
  
“You took a hard fall there. Are you sure you’re alright?”  
  
“I’m fine, don’t worry!”  
  
She let out a sigh of relief and gestured across the room.  
  
“Now that you can see, the bathroom is right there. Take all the time you need. In the meantime, I have to finish getting ready for the customers.”

She stepped around a corner and went out of sight, so you headed to her bathroom, running her sink and dipping your face in the water, rubbing the soap out of your hair and down the drain. You pulled your head back and grabbed her hairbrush, combing the snarls from the sudden scrubbing out of your hair.  
  
“MUFFET! I HAVE ARRIVED FOR MY FIRST DAY ON THE JOB!”

The shock of Papyrus’s sudden shouting caused you to wrench the hairbrush out of your hair suddenly, and you hissed in pain as a knot tore out. Muffet called your name from the other room.  
  
“Could you handle Papyrus for me? I’m not quite ready yet.”  
  
You told her you could, and went down the stairs, grateful for your sense of sight being returned on the trip downwards. You were greeted by Papyrus, already in uniform, and Sans behind him, still in his blue jacket.  
  
“OH, HELLO, FRIEND! I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE YOU HERE! WHERE IS MUFFET?”  
  
“She’s upstairs, getting ready.”  
  
“I SEE. I SHALL HANDLE THE COUNTER UNTIL SHE GETS DOWN HERE!”  
  
He vaulted over the countertop and stood smiling in front of the cash register, staring at the door in preparation.  
  
…  
  
“SANS! ORDER SOMETHING SO I CAN PRACTICE!”

Sans shrugged and walked up to the counter, his eyes barely over the countertop.  
  
“HELLO, AND WELCOME TO THE SPIDER BAKE SALE! MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?”  
  
“sure bro, i’ll take some a cinnamon roll. i haven’t eaten in so long, i’m just-“  
  
“ALRIGHT, LET ME GO MAKE YOU YOUR CINNAMON ROLL!”  
  
Papyrus stormed into the kitchen at speeds faster than Sans’ puns could travel. He turned to you and winked, and you braced yourself for the incoming pun.  
  
“…skin and bones.”  
  
A loud groan came from the kitchen.  
  
…  
  
Papyrus returned to talk to you and Sans.  
  
“I…DON’T KNOW THE RECIPE.”  
  
“that’s alright, bro.”  
  
Sans’s voice sounded like he was eating something, and you turned to see that he…had a cinnamon roll. You looked to Papyrus, and he shrugged at you.  
  
“I DO NOT KNOW HOW HE DOES THAT EITHER.”

Muffet came down the stairs, now in uniform, and looked around at her lack of customers. Her eyes then set on you.  
  
“I don’t want to keep you out of work longer than necessary, so let me fix your usual and send you on your way. I’ll have to train Papyrus here myself, so I’d be a bit too busy to talk, unfortunately.”

You nodded, reluctant to leave her behind, and sat down to wait. Sans walked towards you and took a seat across from you.  
  
“hey kiddo, can i talk to you for a sec?”  
  
“Sure, what’s up?”  
  
He leaned in closer to you.  
  
“it looks like you’re pretty close to muffet over there, right?”  
  
You nodded.  
  
“can i trust her with papyrus? i don’t want him to get hurt.”

You lowered your voice as well.  
  
“Of course you can trust her. Why wouldn’t you?”

“well…she _did_ try to kill frisk back in the underground.”

“Didn’t everyone?”  
  
“everyone had their reasons. but she…she just wanted them dead for some cash.”  
  
You hadn’t heard this, but you quickly shake her head.  
  
“I’ve seen how she’s treated people. Even if she tried to kill Frisk down there, she clearly likes them now. No matter what you guys were like Underground, the Surface is a new world. A new chance. So, I trust her. I think you can too.”  
  
Sans sighed and shook his head, staring at the table.  
  
“…you’re right kid. i’m probably just thinkin’ too much.”  
  
He set more money down on the table.  
  
“thanks for the pep talk, kid. your drink’s on me.”  
  
Sans turned to Papyrus at the counter.  
  
“i gotta go, pap. see you later.”  
  
Papyrus waved excitedly at his brother.  
  
“BYE, SANS! HAVE A GOOD DAY!”  
  
You couldn’t help but smile at the happy skeletons. Muffet carried your drink over, and you picked it up, handing Sans’ money to her. You stepped out of the door, waving to her and Papyrus. They waved back, and you went to work. On the elevator ride up, you stopped, looked down, and mumbled to yourself;

  
“I really do like her, don’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO sorry to keep you guys waiting this long! I got sick, and then I got my family sick, so I had to take care of them, and THEN I got smacked with an essay at school, so I had a lot of work to do. Today is the first time I've even had the time to write.
> 
> Delays aside, we've got one! We've got progress! I made progress!


	11. Flustered

Another long day of work, full of “I’m sorry, sir”s passes by, and you find yourself on the street again, heading towards Muffet’s place. You try to take your mind off of her, but your thoughts kept drifting towards spiders. You walk in a dream-like haze, and barely register a hand grabbing your shoulder. You turn around and see that one muscly monster that Mettaton had greeted.

“You gotta watch for that dog, man.”  
  
You look down and see a small white dog growling and barking at the horse-merman. You reach down to pet it and it calms down fairly quickly, sitting down and yapping at you.  
  
“Dude, don’t touch that thing! It’s dangerous!”  
  
“What do you mean, it’s dangerous? Look at it!”

You look down at the little puppy and…your hand isn’t there. Where there once was a hand there now is a dog, still panting excitedly. You tentatively pull your hand back, and it slips out of the dog with a strange gooey slurping noise. The puppy whines and patters towards a building, slipping into it like a ghost.  
  
“See what I mean? That thing’ll eat you if it gets the chance.”  
  
You nod slowly.  
  
“Your name was Aaron, right?”  
  
“Yeah, man. Glad you remembered. I don’t think I got yours though.”  
  
You realize he’s right, and give him your name, apologizing for not doing it sooner. He repeats it back to you.

“Nice name. It really suits you!”  
  
He winks at you, something you get a feeling he’ll never stop doing, and you nod as well.

“Where you headed?”  
  
You tell him that you’re just going to go see someone.  
  
“Is it your ladyfriend from last time?”

“Wh…what?!”  
  
“Are you going to go see your girlfriend?”  
  
You feel like you’re blushing harder than you’ve ever blushed.  
  
“Whoa, man, you alright? I didn’t mean to set you off like that.”  
  
You shake your head and try to calm down.

“Look, she’s…she’s not my girlfriend. She’s just my friend.”  
  
“Really? Does that mean I have a shot?”  
  
You shoot a glare at Aaron, and he backs off slightly.  
  
“Hey, watch it, man. I’m just kidding around.”

You come to the turn onto the street with Muffet’s bakery, and you walk towards it, waving goodbye to Aaron. You open the door and hear that familiar ringing bell, announcing that a customer has arrived. Papyrus walks out of the back room to greet you.  
  
“MUFFET! OUR FRIEND HAS ARRIVED! IT IS NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, HUMAN!”  
  
You look around and see that the bakery’s a lot more crowded than usual. You recognize Undyne and Alphys sitting in a booth in the corner, but there’s quite a few other patrons, both human and monster, that you haven’t seen before. Muffet steps out of the back room and waves you over to the counter.  
  
“Welcome back! Are you going to have your usual?”

You nod to her, and ask about the crowd.  
  
“Yes, it is rather unusual for my establishment, isn’t it? You can thank Papyrus here for that.”  
  
“I TOLD ALL OF MY FRIENDS ABOUT MY NEW JOB HERE, AND THEY CAME TO CONGRATULATE ME! IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE ALREADY MADE THIS FINE ESTABLISHMENT EVEN FINER!”  
  
The bell rings again, and you turn to see Aaron come in and come up to you.  
  
“Did you follow me, Aaron?”  
  
“Nah, man. I didn’t even know you came in here.”  
  
His winking fails to convince you.  
  
“Whatcha do here, anyway?”  
  
“ISN’T IT OBVIOUS, AARON? THIS IS A BAKERY! WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ONE OF OUR SPECIALLY COOKED PASTRIES? I ASSURE YOU, THEY ARE VERY DELICIOUS.”

Aaron looks to you, and you nod in response.  
  
“They’re pretty great!”  
  
“Alright, sure. I’ll take a cinnamon roll.”  
  
“YOU’VE GOT IT! ONE CINNAMON ROLL, COMING RIGHT UP!”  
  
Papyrus marches into the back room, and you look to see Muffet resting her elbows on the counter, your preferred drink in one of her hands. You grab the drink and reach into your wallet to grab the money, when she grabs your hand to stop you.  
  
“We’re having a sale, by the way. Any humans that have been in my bedroom get half off of their drink orders.”

You feel yourself blushing some more, and see Aaron giving you a strange look out of the corner of your eye. You put the cash on the counter, and she pulls it back and puts it in the cash register. At around the same time, Papyrus returned with Aaron’s cinnamon roll and did the same exchange of money.  
  
“Hey man, can I sit with you?”  
  
Aaron swims over to you. You don’t want to be rude, so you say yes, and sit at an unoccupied booth, and Aaron sets himself down across from you.  
  
“What was that about not being your girlfriend?”  
  
You nearly spit out your drink at his sudden inquiry. You swallow, with some difficulty, and shoot him another glare.  
  
“I told you, we’re just friends!”  
  
“Dude, you’ve been in her bedroom. ‘Just friends’ don't do that.”  
  
“I was just washing my face off, that’s all!”  
  
It’s Aaron’s turn to nearly spit out his order.  
  
“Dude, I don’t need the details!”  
  
“Would you stop that?! She’s right over the-“  
  
She is not ‘over there.’ Muffet is, in fact, standing right next to you.  
  
“Are you getting all flustered over me? I assure you that’s unnecessary.”

You can practically feel your face burning with blush now.  
  
“I’ve…I’ve gotta go!”  
  
You pick the cup up and slip out of the door as fast as you can, barreling past people on your way home. You find yourself out of breath much earlier than you should be, but, despite your lungs burning, you press onward, only stopping when you reach your door.  
  
You know he’s right, but you can’t bring yourself to admit your feelings to her yet. Not when there’s a chance you could mess things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason this one took so long...Is that I have a new work out! I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but hopefully it was worth it.
> 
> I now have a collection of Legend of Zelda one-offs. I will write every prompt I receive, so if you're a Legend of Zelda fan, consider stopping by!
> 
> I promise that Six-Armed Embrace will remain my main project, and I will hopefully be reducing the delays soon.


	12. ...Dog

You avoided the bakery for the next week or so. You went into work sleepy and stressed, getting barely anything done and getting yelled at by Leroy as always. You’d walk home, think of your embarrassment and pass out in bed until the next morning.  
  
But now it’s the Friday of the next week. The sun rising wakes you up, and you realize you’re already late. You absentmindedly attempt to shut the alarm clock off, but to your surprise, you hear a wet slapping noise instead of the familiar click. You look and see the dog sitting on your bedside table, panting and yapping at you. You pull your hand out of the dog and sit up.  
  
“How did you get in here?”  
  
Your only response is another high-pitched bark.  
  
“Suppose it was wishful thinking that you could talk, huh.”  
  
You stand up and walk to the door. You look down and see a trail of…what could only be called dog residue on the bottom of the door. The dog runs up and absorbs it back into itself.  
  
“Why are you following me, dog?”  
  
It sits down and yaps at you again. You groan, open the door and walk to your oven, pulling out a couple of eggs to make an omelette. You grease the pan and crack the eggs, watching them sizzle. You leave the eggs for a moment to go to the bathroom, and when you return, you see the dog, sitting in the pan.  
  
“Would you get out of there?!”  
  
You run up and lift the dog out of the pan, setting it on the floor. When you go back to the eggs, you see them, cooked just how you like them, in the shape of two letters.

GO.  
  
You look back at the dog, and its sitting there, smiling and yapping at you still.  
  
“What is that even supposed to mean?”  
  
You grab the letter-eggs and put them on a plate, letting them cool while you pour a glass of juice for yourself. A glass of juice that the dog promptly headbutts and knocks onto the carpet.

“Why would you do that? What is with you?”  
  
You grab a paper towel and start rubbing the carpet down before the liquid can sink in and stain. When you pull the paper towel back, you look at it, and, yet again, there’s another message.  
  
MUFFET  
  
Confused and frustrated, you turn to the small gooey fluffball.

“Do you only communicate with food?”

“Yap! Yap Yap!”  
  
You roll your eyes and go to the fridge, pulling out some ketchup and unscrewing it. You pour it on the counter and gesture to it, annoyed that this is the only way you can communicate. The dog stares at it, then stares at you, then stares at the ketchup. Your stomach rumbles, and you go to eat your GO eggs, and stare incredulously at the fact that there is a new message. The eggs have been cut and rearranged.  
  
TELL  
  
“I can’t do that yet! We haven’t even been on an official ‘date’ yet, and it’s only been two weeks! I don’t want to look desperate! And I’m just talking to a dog.”  
  
You turn and see the dog rolling in the ketchup. When it stands up, it absorbs the ketchup into its body, turning pink for a moment. You look at the smeared ketchup, and see one word.  
  
DATE  
  
“Alright, fine. I’ll ask her on a date. Are you happy, dog?”  
  
You could swear you saw the dog winking. You wipe up the remaining ketchup, eat your eggs, and walk out the door to go see Muffet. You just hope you can keep yourself together.  
  
“WELCOME TO THE SPIDER BAKE SALE, WHAT CAN I-HUMAN! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! WE’VE ALL MISSED YOU!”

“yeah we have. but our aim’s gettin’ better.”  
  
“SANS, YOU USE THAT JOKE SO MUCH, IT’S LOST ANY HUMOUR IT MIGHT HAVE HAD.”

Muffet comes down the stairs, rubbing her ears from Papyrus’s loud voice. She sees you and runs at you, hugging you tightly.

“I’ve missed you! It’s so nice to see you again!”  
  
You’re frankly stunned. You’re starting to think the dog was right, but you don’t want to say it with an audience, and you don’t want to say it right now anyway. You also have no excuse for avoiding her.  
  
“I…Aaron embarrassed me, and I didn’t want to run into him again.”  
  
“Don’t worry about him, he does that to everyone. You should have seen what he pulled when you left.”  
  
“IT WAS QUITE A SPECTACLE.”

You aren't entirely sure you want to know.

“Allow me to make you something, okay?”

You nod, still a little startled by her sudden hug, and sit at a booth. Muffet walks into the back room with Papyrus. Sans stands on the other end of the room, knocking on a door every once in a while.

“What are you doing?”  
  
“oh, i’m just practicing my knock-knock jokes.”  
  
Not a conversation topic you know too much about, so you sit there quietly for a moment.  
  
“knock knock.”  
  
Sans, inexplicably, knocks on the table you’re at. You stare at him for a second.”  
  
“How do you do that?”  
  
“kid, your line’s ‘who’s there?’”  
  
You sigh.  
  
“Who’s there?”  
  
“dishes.”  
  
“Dishes who?”  
  
“dishes a very bad joke.”

“Ugh…yea, it is.”  
  
…

“knock knock.”  
  
“Another one?”  
  
“knock knock.”

“Fine…who’s there?”

“euro.”  
  
“Like the currency?”  
  
“quit breaking the pattern, kid.”  
  
“Agh…euro who?”  
  
“euro lyin’ to muffet.”  
  
“Wh…what?”  
  
“you lied to her. you didn’t leave because you were embarrassed.”  
  
“Y…yes I did!”  
  
“you’re a bad liar, kid. bad…to the bone.”  
  
“SANS! STOP ANNOYING OUR HUMAN WITH THESE PUNS!”

“Excuse me, they’re _my_ human, Papyrus.”  
  
Sans leans in to whisper your ear.  
  
“you don’t have to lie to her. she feels the same way.”

Muffet approaches your table and sets down a slice of cake and your drink of choice.

“THIS CAKE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS! MUFFET TAUGHT ME THE RECIPE HERSELF!”  
  
You take a bite of the cake, and savor the flavor.  
  
“Papyrus, you did really well.”  
  
“WOWIE, REALLY?! I MEAN, OF COURSE I DID WELL! I AM NOT ‘THE GREAT’ PAPYRUS FOR NOTHING!”  
  
“yea, it’s pretty good.”  
  
You look over, and Sans has a slice of cake himself, crumbs smeared over his smile.  
  
“Sans, I do not take kindly to thieves.”  
  
“i didn’t steal it. i bought it. check the cash register.”  
  
“MUFFET, DO NOT QUESTION IT. SANS DOES A LOT OF THINGS THAT LOGIC CANNOT EXPLAIN.”  
  
You bear witness to the rare and amazing sextuple face-palm.  
  
“Whatever. I guess if you paid for it, it doesn’t matter.”

“Muffet?”  
  
“Yes, dear?”

You brace yourself for the inevitable rejection of your request, after the scene you you caused last week.  
  
“Would you like to do something tomorrow? Maybe go see a movie or something?”  
  
You close your eyes, holding out for the coming ‘no.’  
  
“Of course! That sounds like a wonderful time!”  
  
It takes all you have to not screech in joy.  
  
“Thank you! Thank you so much, Muffet!”  
  
“Don’t get too excited now, aren’t you late for work again?”  
  
“I’ll just call in sick or something.”  
  
“wow, you sure are a well adjusted, responsible adult.”  
  
“Yep!”  
  
You stand up and go out the door with a skip in your step, headed back to your apartment. When you get home, you open your door to find the same dog from this morning, sitting on your couch, asleep. You go to pick the dog up, and see that it has a collar now.  
  
This dog named itself Toby, and has just decided it lives with you now.  
  
Freaking freeloader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited! We're getting so close, and I don't want to keep you guys waiting for it!"
> 
> Also, I got off my lazy butt and wrote instead of procrastinating. That helped too.
> 
> It would also help me out if you would check out this poll: http://www.poll-maker.com/poll669257x19604EE9-27 It would help me know if i need to boost the reader's masculinity or femininity to keep them gender-neutral.


	13. Confession

The day passes quickly in your eyes. The dog finally let you pet it without engulfing your hand, so you spend a while playing with the little guy. You had to wait until he fell asleep to make dinner, so that he didn’t absorb the food. Once you’ve finished off your meal, you sit down to look through the movies that are playing nearby. A wide selection of movie theatres is available in the city, so a wide variety of movies can be found on any day of the week. You browse through the Saturday showings, trying to find a movie you think you’d both enjoy.    
  
DIRT CHEAP: JANITOR FOR HIRE, starring THOMAS MONSERUDE  
  
Judging by her reaction to Sans’s brand of comedy, a movie with a pun in the title wouldn’t be Muffet’s style. Besides, a movie with a Surface star would be a minor insight into human culture. You click the ‘filter’ option, and click the ‘Celebs’ button, removing all of the movies with small-time stars.  
  
   METAL DREAMS, starring METTATON and KRISTEN STEWART    
  
SHRAPNEL, starring METTATON and BRUCE WILLIS   
  
ENTWINED SOULS, starring METTATON and ALEXANDER BOLTON  
  
No, no, and no! Muffet expressed her disdain for the flamboyant robot already. Something else, something else.  
  
REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR, starring METTATON and ZAC EFRON  
  
LOVE IS A TWO WAY STREET, starring METTATON and EMMA WATSON    
  
LEG, starring METTATON   
  
He wasn’t even trying on that last one. There’s gotta be something without Mettaton. You keep scrolling, until finally, something catches your eye.  
  
THE FIVE TALISMANS, starring DWAYNE JOHNSON and ROBERT DOWNEY JR.  
  
This looks perfect! A cheesy movie is always a good time, perfect for picking apart on the way home. And with two giant human stars, and a serious lack of Mettaton, things are bound to go well! Now that that’s out of the way, you crawl into bed and tuck yourself  
  
in. As you’re drifting off, you barely register a quiet ‘yap’ and a warm mass snuggling in next to you…  
  
You wake up to a dog licking your face. You move Toby off of your chest and sit up, checking the time. 2:30. That should give you enough time to get ready. You step into the shower, the dog following you the whole way, and turn the water on. You space out and enjoy the water for a while, idly running your hands through your hair to comb out the sleep snarls, and get to work washing off.   With the shower done, you grab a pan out and crack some eggs into it, sprinkling some salt into the gooey egg mass. You flip the half-made omelette and drop some ham into it, letting it cook. When you pull it out and put it on a plate, you cut off a piece for Toby and set it next to his impromptu water bowl, and watch as he promptly gets to work eating it. You eat the omelette yourself, and go off to brush your teeth. On the way out of the door, you struggle to keep the dog behind the door and you on the other side.  
  
   You arrive at Muffet’s place shortly, and see her waiting outside for you.    
  
“It’s very nice to see you again! Would you mind leading the way?”  
  
   “Of course not!”    
  
You set off in the direction of the movie theatre, Muffet following close behind.  
  
Tentatively, you reach a hand over to hers and attempt to hold her hand.    
  
“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing there, silly! All you’d have to do is ask.”    
  
You pull your hand back, and then slowly move it towards hers again.    
  
“Muffet, may I hold your hand?”    
  
“Of course you can.”  
  
   She closes the gap with her hand and intertwines her fingers with yours. As it is the first time you’ve had proper contact with her, you finally get to fully appreciate how smooth her skin is. Clearly, whatever she uses works.  
  
"So, did you have a film in mind?”  
  
   You explain that most of the movies contained Mettaton, so your options were severely limited. Of the remaining choices, you’d thought that The Five Talismans seemed like the best selection.  
  
"I trust your judgement. Please, lead the way."  
  
You continue onwards, turning occasionally. Nothing of note happens for the most part. You reach the theatre and approach the ticket booth to see a cute little cat-like creature running the booth.  
  
"HoI! I'm Temmie! Welcom to..DA TEM THEATUR!"  
  
A muffled voice from the back informs you that it is not called the Tem Theatre.  
  
"I don't care, Johnson. I will call it the Tem Theatre if I want to. ANWAY, WAT MOOVe DO U WANT TU SEE?"  
  
Muffet backs up slightly, and pushes you forward to deal with the cat creature.  
  
"Uh...two for The Five Talismans, please."  
  
"YAYa! TOO TIKETS 2 DA MOOVe! DAT's DIS MUCH MUNS!"  
  
Temmie holds her paws up, trying to signal with fingers she doesn't have. You look behind her for the prices and set the money on the counter. The monster leans forward and paws at the money, slowly dragging it towards herself.  
  
"YAY! Ur TIKETS R HErE!"  
  
Two tickets slide out of nowhere and you pic1k them up, handing one to Muffet and stepping inside.  
  
"HOI! WELCOM 2...DA TEM CONSESSIUN STAND! WANT SUM POPCORN?!"  
  
Muffet flinches at the sudden loud voice of a second cat creature, trying to slip down the hallway to the theatre.  
  
"WHERE U GOING? DON'T u waNT POPCORN?!"  
  
You follow your six-armed companion into the hallway. You vaguely hear Temmie's voice in the background.  
  
"You're going to regret this."  
  
The two of you took the central seats in the movie theatre, and sat in silence as the pre-movie showings of various advertisements played. When the lights dimmed to show the previews, you turn to Muffet, trying to let the dark be your barrier. You sneak your hand towards hers, and she intertwines her soft hand with yours. You turn to focus on the movie as it starts to play.  
  
It's just as cheesy as you expected it to be. The stars seemed to know this, as they overacted every single line to comedic effect, hamming it up to the greatest possible degree. You and Muffet were in stitches part-way through.  
  
You start to notice just how cold the movie theatre is when you feel goosebumps rising on your arms. You hesitate for a moment, but decide that you may as well try. You lift the armrest that separates you from Muffet, and slowly scoot towards her, putting an arm around her and pulling her closer. Incredibly, she lets you, and you spend the entire rest of the movie cuddled together, chuckling every now and then at the two stars hamming it up for the audience. When the credits roll and the lights turn on, you finally, sadly, disconnect from Muffet, standing up and stretching.  
  
"That was just as bad as I expected. Are all human movies like this?"  
  
You shake your head, and explain your reasoning for picking a bad movie.  
  
"Perhaps we could go see a better movie next time?"  
  
You nod and laugh, telling her that you'll look out for one.  
  
"Well, shall we get going?"  
  
You hold out your hand and she takes it, hoisting herself up. The two of you walk out of the theatre, hand in hand. On the way back to the bakery, you decide to give it a shot.  
  
"Muffet?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I've really enjoyed our time together."  
  
"As have I."  
  
"And I've been thinking...."  
  
"Where are you going with this?"  
  
"Maybe we could be...more than just friends?"  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I don't want to just be your friend anymore! I want to...to be your...datemate."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You did it! You asked her! Good for you!
> 
> I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting so long. I got hit with a broken computer, and then my graduation ceremony, so I just haven't had time to write anything.
> 
> Also, I just want you guys to know that having you around has really enriched my life. Having people that enjoy what I do, and come back for more, really makes me feel good about myself.


	14. Delays

Muffet stares at you in awe. She didn't seem to quite register your confession for a moment. You start to shake slightly when she opens her mouth to respond.

  
"Are you...really?"

  
You feel your cheeks flush up. Was this too early? Did you ruin any chances you had with her, even just being friends?

 

"I have to say, I'm flattered, but..."

You're positive that she can tell how flustered you are, and you struggle to hold back tears. Before she can finish, and deliver the inevitable 'no,' you slip into the crowd and disappear, running back to your apartment and slamming the door shut. You slump against the door, shudder, and let the tears flow down your face.

"Yip! Yip yip yip!"

  
You look up and see Toby run into your room, jumping up to you and licking the tears off your face. You clutch the dog to your chest and sob.  
"Toby, I think I ruined it."

  
"Yap!"

  
Of course he wouldn't respond. Why would he? He's a dog, albeit a gooey one. Regardless of how insane you might seem, you continue to talk to him, baring your soul to the white fluffball.  
"I ditched her! In the middle of a crowd, just because I was too scared to hear her say no. How could I be so stupid?!"

  
Toby growled, and then yapped at you again, licking your face and...is he smiling? He nuzzles against your chest and sits down, his legs disappearing into his fluff. You can't help but laugh at your situation, a mirthless giggle escaping your lips as you draw your hands down his back. As you do, you feel yourself growing sleepy, and your eyelids droop, as you quite literally cry yourself to sleep.

 

* * *

  
"hey kid, what're you doing down there?"

  
You jolt awake, and look upwards to see a familiar skeleton, flipping through the channels on your couch.

  
"c'mon, get up. sit with me. we've got a lot to talk about."

  
You stand up, not even questioning the lack of a dog, and trudge over, rubbing your eyes and sitting down next to Sans.

  
"what's wrong? looks like you sprung a leak there."

  
It's hard not to smile at his terrible jokes, but there's clearly no happiness behind it.

  
"having some trouble with muffet?"

  
You look Sans eye to eyesocket.

  
"How did you know that?"

  
"i know a lot of things. i'm no numbskull."

  
Sans bangs his hands on his thighbones, playing a rimshot with the sound of his bones. You chuckle quietly, starting to cheer up a little.

  
"see, kid? i knew i could turn your frown upside-down. now, tell dunkle sans what's goin' on."

  
You nod, and slowly explain the situation to him, struggling to hold back tears as you do so. Occasionally he nods. Though the smile stays plastered on his face, you can tell by his eyes that he wasn't happy hearing about this.

  
"wow, that does sound bad. you think you'll be okay?"

  
You tell him that you're not sure, in reference to both whether you'll be okay, and what you should do.

  
"well, i think i've got some advice for you. you ready to listen, or do you just want some more jokes?"

  
You shoot a glare Sans's way, and tell him that you think it should be obvious.

  
"y'know, the world's gonna get you down sometimes. believe me, i know better than anyone else. but you can't let them see you cry. you've gotta be strong for the ones you love, and maybe...if you do that, they'll be strong for you too."

  
You cock your head to the side, confused.

  
"What does that have to do with anything?"

  
"well, someone once told me that. it got me out of a **RUFF** spot."

  
Sans's speech is interrupted by a dog sound, which only makes you move confused.

  
"welp. my time here's up. you'd better go answer your door."

  
He shrugs and walks into your bedroom and out of sight. You know you shouldn't bother to follow him, as he'd be gone without a doubt by now. You turn to face the-

  
**"RUFF!"**

 

* * *

  
You sit up with a jolt, not questioning the lack of a dog as you stand up and turn around. It was a dream, then?

  
"HUMAN! IT IS I, YOUR WONDERFUL FRIEND PAPYRUS! WOULD YOU MIND OPENING THE DOOR? I HAVE SOMEONE HERE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU!"

  
You reach out and open the door, turning the doorknob to find yourself face-to-face with Muffet. Papyrus is standing right behind her, and the dog is stuck to the ceiling above Papyrus's head. Muffet speaks up first.

  
"It's nice to see you again. Is everything alright?"

  
You nod, but then respond by asking how the two of them found your home.

  
"Don't worry, it's not creepy or anything. That dog led us here. Though how he knows where you live is beyond me..."

  
Toby yips and jumps down to land against your chest, and you reach to grab him before he could hit the floor.

  
"Did you lead them here, Toby?"

  
"IS THAT YOUR DOG? HUMAN, YOU HAVE STRANGE TASTE IN PETS!"

  
You laugh at Papyrus's confusion, and explain that it's more like the dog has strange taste in owners.

  
"Well, whatever the case is, that's not why we're here. I came to talk to you."

  
"YES, MUFFET HAS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT TO SAY TO YOU!"

  
You flinch back at Papyrus suddenly getting closer while he yells at you.

  
"Well, I'll admit, when you confessed first, I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. When you ran off, I returned to the diner, and...well..."

  
"WE HAD A HEART-TO-HEART CHAT, DESPITE THE FACT THAT I LACK THE TITULAR ORGAN!"

  
You start to get all flustered again, but continue to look her in the eyes, refusing to run from whatever she might say this time.

  
"I do. I want to be your...what was the term you had used? Datemate?"

  
You struggle not to jump out of your skin in your excitement. You quickly wrap your arms around the spider, and she does the same. The two of you share a long, tender moment, before...

  
"AHEM."

  
The two of you disentangle from each other and both turn to face Papyrus in unison. You both burst out laughing, and then you wrap your arms around the skeleton, crying tears of joy and thanking him over and over again.

  
"HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WHY ARE YOU CRYING?"

  
"uh, bro? i think those are called, 'tears of joy."

  
Sans suddenly appeared behind Papyrus, and you disentangle from the taller skeleton to hug the shorter one, thanking him too.

  
"uh, not that i'm complaining, but what did i do?"

  
Right. That bit was a dream. You back off a little, and Sans shrugs.

  
'well, i hate to be  such a buzzkill, but you two are still on business hours. there's like, three customers waiting for you."

  
Muffet practically jumped out of her skin. She grabbed Papyrus by the hand and yanks him away, running down the stairs.

  
"I look forward to seeing you again, love! I have to go, bye!"

  
As she disappeared from sight with a yelling skeleton in tow, you turn to face Sans.

  
"that look on your face...i actually did something for you, didn't i?"

  
You struggle to think of a way to explain to someone that you had a dream about them, when he shrugged and turned away.

  
"well, whatever. have a happy relationship, hope it goes well for you."

  
He opens a door to a different apartment. You hear someone scream, and quickly close your door before you get chewed out by your neighbor for Sans's antics.

  
Though you can't help but hear the groan from them. Sans just can't miss an opportunity for a pun, can he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, SO sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long! I'm leaving this as chapter 15 for now and leaving the note so everyone sees that a new chapter's been uploaded. I'll delete that later.
> 
> Here's an extra long chapter for you guys!


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